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There was virtually no press coverage of the trial of Mongols Motorcycle Club member Christopher Bryan “Stoney” Ablett during the last month. Ablett was charged with four counts of racketeering for killing former Hells Angels Frisco charter President Mark “Papa” Guardado in a fight outside a San Francisco bar in Septmeber 2008.
There was, however, some noticeable reaction when Ablett was found guilty of four racketeering crimes last Wednesday.
Bay City News, a San Francisco news wire that employs about 20 freelance reporters, provided the most widely cited coverage of the verdict. The service quoted US Attorney Melinda Haag and provided the copy that appeared in the San Jose Mercury News
The Los Angeles Times reported that Ablett’s nickname is Stoney and summarized the three and a half week trial in two sentences. “Ablett’s claim that the killing was done out of self-defense did not convince the jury. Instead, jurors found he killed his rival to enhance his status with the Mongols.”
Henry K. Lee, the most well known crime reporter in the Bay Area summarized the trial and verdict for the San Francisco Chronicle in three sentences. “During the trial, Ablett testified that he had killed Guardado to protect himself and his friends. Prosecutors argued that Ablett had killed Guardado to boost his standing with the Mongols. Ablett faces three life terms in prison when he is sentenced May 15.”
NBC’s coverage of the verdict was minimal.
Erin Sherbort, a reporter for the SF Weekly who may have issues with “white dudes” reported: “Word got to Guardado that a member of his rival gang was not only in town, but wearing a Mongols t-shirt at a bar in the Mission. Needless to say, he didn’t take the news lightly. According to prosecutors, Guardado marched right over to the bar and confronted Ablett.
“Of course, the two got into a fight, which ended when Ablett stabbed Guardado four times and shot him twice.”
The Huffington Post whose coverage certainlky included the most writerly sentence added the news that, “Guardado was the president of the San Francisco chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, and was an advisor for the television show ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ a popular series about outlaw motorcycle gangs. More than 1,000 people attended his funeral.”
The official FBI Press Release is here.
Mongols Motorcycle Gang Member Convicted of Murdering President of San Francisco Hells Angels
Jury Finds Christopher Ablett Guilty of all Counts... Following Trial
| U.S. Attorney’s Office February 23, 2012 |
SAN FRANCISCO—Late yesterday afternoon, a federal jury found Christopher Bryan Ablett, a/k/a “Stoney,” a member of the Modesto Chapter of the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang, guilty of all four felonies with which he was charged including murder in aid of racketeering, assault with a deadly weapon in aid of racketeering, using a firearm during a crime of violence, and using a firearm causing murder during a crime of violence, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag announced. The charges stemmed from the defendant’s gang-related murder of Mark “Papa” Guardado, the president of the San Francisco Chapter of the Hells Angels, on Sept. 2, 2008, at 24th Street and Treat Avenue in the Mission District of San Francisco.
Evidence at trial showed that Ablett traveled to San Francisco to visit a friend. He was armed with a foot-long military knife and a .357 magnum revolver. Ablett brought with him a Mongols full-patch vest and t-shirt that only a full member of the Mongols is allowed to wear. According to testimony from Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) gang expert Special Agent John Ciccone, and former Mongols undercover ATF Special Agent Darrin Kozlowski who infiltrated the gang, the Mongols are an organized criminal motorcycle gang whose primary rival is the Hells Angels motorcycle gang.
When word traveled to Guardado that the defendant was wearing a Mongols patch shirt in a bar in the Mission, Guardado went to the street outside the bar and approached Ablett. A fight broke out during which Ablett stabbed Guardado four times and shot him twice, killing him. According to the testimony of FBI Special Agent Jacob Millspaugh, the case agent, the defendant’s phone records showed that he spent the next several hours calling people who were identified as members of the Mongols—showing that he was reaching out as part of the Mongols communication network. The jury rejected the defendant’s defenses of self-defense, defense of his friends, and heat of passion after the defendant took the stand and testified. The jury also found that the defendant murdered Guardado to maintain or increase his position in the Mongols gang, and that the Mongols engaged in racketeering activity.
Ablett is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15, 2012. He faces a possible sentence of three terms of life in prison plus 10 mandatory consecutive years, a $1 million fine, and five years of supervised release. Specifically, for the charge of murder in aid of racketeering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1959, Ablett faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life without parole. For the charge of assault with a deadly weapon in aid of racketeering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1959, Ablett faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. For the charge of using a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), Ablett faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. And for the charge of using a firearm causing murder during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(j), Ablett faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
The case was prosecuted by former Assistant United States Attorney Christine Wong, Assistant United States Attorneys Kathryn Haun, Wilson Leung and William Frentzen, paralegal specialist Lili ArauzHaase, legal techs Marina Ponomarchuk, Daniel Charlier-Smith, and Ponly Tu, all of the Organized Crime Strike Force and Violent Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, and the San Francisco Police Department.
Further Information:
Case #: CR 09-0749 RS
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Evidence at trial showed that Ablett traveled to San Francisco to visit a friend. He was armed with a foot-long military knife and a .357 magnum revolver. Ablett brought with him a Mongols full-patch vest and t-shirt that only a full member of the Mongols is allowed to wear. According to testimony from Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) gang expert Special Agent John Ciccone, and former Mongols undercover ATF Special Agent Darrin Kozlowski who infiltrated the gang, the Mongols are an organized criminal motorcycle gang whose primary rival is the Hells Angels motorcycle gang.
When word traveled to Guardado that the defendant was wearing a Mongols patch shirt in a bar in the Mission, Guardado went to the street outside the bar and approached Ablett. A fight broke out during which Ablett stabbed Guardado four times and shot him twice, killing him. According to the testimony of FBI Special Agent Jacob Millspaugh, the case agent, the defendant’s phone records showed that he spent the next several hours calling people who were identified as members of the Mongols—showing that he was reaching out as part of the Mongols communication network. The jury rejected the defendant’s defenses of self-defense, defense of his friends, and heat of passion after the defendant took the stand and testified. The jury also found that the defendant murdered Guardado to maintain or increase his position in the Mongols gang, and that the Mongols engaged in racketeering activity.
Ablett is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15, 2012. He faces a possible sentence of three terms of life in prison plus 10 mandatory consecutive years, a $1 million fine, and five years of supervised release. Specifically, for the charge of murder in aid of racketeering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1959, Ablett faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life without parole. For the charge of assault with a deadly weapon in aid of racketeering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1959, Ablett faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. For the charge of using a firearm during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c), Ablett faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. And for the charge of using a firearm causing murder during a crime of violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(j), Ablett faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
The case was prosecuted by former Assistant United States Attorney Christine Wong, Assistant United States Attorneys Kathryn Haun, Wilson Leung and William Frentzen, paralegal specialist Lili ArauzHaase, legal techs Marina Ponomarchuk, Daniel Charlier-Smith, and Ponly Tu, all of the Organized Crime Strike Force and Violent Crime Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, and the San Francisco Police Department.
Further Information:
Case #: CR 09-0749 RS
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.